Improvement in lamp-wicks



1. H. CONNELLY. i

Lamp Wick.

No. 37,276. vPatented Jan. `6, 1863. l "H UNITED STATES PATENT rEicE.

JOSEPH H. CONNELLY, OF WHEELING, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAM P-WICKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,276, dated January (i, 1863.

.To all whom z' may coltcernf Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. GONNELLY,I of Wheeling, in the county of Ohio and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Viicks for Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, Jforming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a lamp-wick, the upperportion of which is opened to exhibit the mode in which it is constructed. Fig. 2 represents a piece of raw cotton folded in paper to form the inside of my improved wick. Fig. 3 is a strip of raw cotton prepared for insertion in the wick.

In each of the figures like letters of reference denote similar parts of the wick.

My invention consists of certain improvements on the internally-napped lamp-wick invented by John Cook and myself, and for which Letters .Patent of the United States were granted to us on the 26th day of August, 1862. That invention, as described in said Letters Patent, consisted in a lamp-wick constructed of canton-flannel or other suitable textile fabric having a napped surface on its inner side when folded so as to form a hollow or tubular wick, or woven double for the same purpose, the obiect being to afford, by means of the internally-napped surface, a better conductor for the oil or burning-fluid, the capillarity of this internally-napped wick being increased, if desired, by the insertion of a thin layer of raw cotton next to the napped surface. In the specification accompanying the patent referred to the wick is described as being made of pieces of canton-annel folded in tubular form and sewed together, or of a suitable web woven double. The design of my improvement is to simplify the construction of this improved wick and obviate the` necessity of sewing the fabric at all by bringing the raw edges of the strip composing the wick together, and covering the joint with a` narrow piece of some thin material pasted or glued thereto; and another object is to irnprove and increase the capillarity of the internally-napped wick by inserting in the tube or outer casing of canton-annel or other napped fabric a strip of unsized paper or of raw cotton folded iu paper. I also make a tubular wick of any suitable textile fabric not To enable others skilled in the art to make l use of my invention, I will proceed to describe it more fully.

The outer portion or casing forming the tube y of my improved lamp-wick may be made ot"I any suitable textile fabric, of cot-ton, linen, or other material, and either having a nap on one side or being devoid of nap on both sides, as may be desired, but woven so closely that the threads will not catch in or be pulled loose by the teeth of the feed-wheel by which the wick is raised or lowered in the lamp. This outer casing or tube, a, (see Fig. 1,) is cut into long strips of uniform width, double that ofthe wick to be made from it. This strip is folded down on each side so that its edges will meet in the center of the wick on one side, as seen in Fig. 1. If the wick is to have a filling ot' paper or cotton it is now inserted but if the fabric has a heavy nap the na pped side is folded in. A narrow strip of muslin, paper, or other suitable material, b, is then pasted over the united edges of the wick throughout the entire length of theV strip, and the wick thus formed is then pressed flat. The cutting of lthe strips of canton-flannel, or other article forming the tube or outer casing of the wick, the insertion of the raw cotton, paper, or other filling, and the folding vover ofthe outer casing, the pasting of the strip of niuslin or paper over its united edges, the pressing or attening of the wick thus formed, and cutting it into pieces of wick of proper length, may all be done very rapidly and at one operation by means of a machine which I have `contrived for that purpose.. Where the casing or tube a of a wick, constructed as just described, is made of canton-flannel., or other article having a nap on one side, it may be cle-- sirable to increase its capillarity by inserting in the tube a thin layer of raw cotton next to the napped surface, as described in the specification to the Letters Patent before referred to; but, as my improved wick is not sewed at thes ed ge something is needed to keep the cotton in place and preserve the hat shape ofthe wick, to effect which I wrap the cotton filling in paper, as seen at c, Fig. 2. This paper wrapper c, being unsized, aids the capillary having a nap, and communicate the requisite action of the wick, and gives it the requisite stiffness.

Another improvement consists in making lthe outer casing or tube of the wick of some textile fabricsuch as muslin or linenwithout any nap on eitherside, and giving the necessary degree of capillarity by inserting` Within the tube or casing, made as herein before described, a strip or strips of porous unsized paper, raw cotton, or other article having similar capil` lary properties. These may be used either together or either of them alone-as, for example, a casing or tube of muslin may be illed with a strip of porous paper, or with a strip of raw cotton folded in paper, or with a strip of stift' paper and a slight layer of cotton on either side ot' the papel'.

The advantages of my improved wick are thatit possesses a greater degree ot'capillarity than the woven-cotton Wick now generally in use that the outside of the wick, being lnore closely'woven than the ordinary cotton wick, is more easily inserted into the Wicktube ot' the lamp, and is more readily moved up and down by the feed-wheel.

The paste or cement used to join the edges of theouter easing or tubular part ot the wick may he made of flour paste, or starch paste, with which should be mixed a small quantity ot' gum-arabic or glue. If the material of which the outer casingof thelainp-wick is made is thin enough to permit ot' the edges being lapped without making the wick too thick in the middle they may be united with the paste in that Way, instead of pasting a thin strip over the united edges.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent as an improvement on the lampwick for which Letters Patent were granted on the 26th August, 1862, to Joseph H. Connelly and John Cock, is-

l. Making a hollow wick for lamps of a folded strip ot' muslin or other textile fabric by uniting the edges of the strip by means of a paste or cement insoluble in the oil or burn ing-duid which is to be burned by the wick.

2. Inserting in an internally-napped hollow or tubular lamp-wick a strip or strips of porous paper, or raw cotton wrapped in paper, so as to give to the wick the requisite stiii'- ness and shape while increasing its capillary power.

3. Making hollow or tubular lamp-wicks of muslin, linen, or other suitable textile fabric,

without nap, and filled with porous paper, paper-pulp, raw cotton, or other substance possessing the requisite capillary property, substantially in the manner hereinbetore described.

In testimony whereof the said JOSEPH H. UONNELLY hath hereunto set his hand.

JOSEPH H. GONNELLY. 

